Color & Grain

Photography

Making room for more memories

Although we still have a few months to go, 2013 is ALMOST coming down to a close.  Sigh!  Another year gone by.  There is still plenty to look forward to 🙂  Come October we will be having some spanish friends visiting the Bay Area for the first time and we are EXCITED!!   Since there are still a few events coming up, and of course many more photos before the year ends, it was time for me to organize my photo folders and make room for more.  Do you have a system to organize and somehow print some of your own photos every year or every so often?  This year I wanted to make sure I didn’t OVER shoot, which would make me end up with way too many photos to keep track of in the end.  I’ve been trying to be more mindful of what I photograph (even with my iPhone) so that not only do I enjoy the moment, but so that I can actually PRINT some of my favorites!  When I take a photo and ask my self if I would print it later, it actually helps me to shoot wisely 🙂

So, for some of you that have asked me how I store, save and print my photos, here is what I do with my digital photos.  Every few days (ideally the same day) I try to delete unwanted or bad photos from my iPhone ASAP so it doesn’t take over my memory.  About once or twice a month I’ll upload them to my computer in a folder named ‘2013 Photos’ and place them on separate sub folders (organized by month)  I do the same thing with photos I take with my “big” camera.  I do this so that at the end of the year I have 12 folders categorized by month, like this;
Every 4 or 6 months I will choose I few favorites and have them printed by Mpix.  At the end of the year I will move ALL my photos (for that particular year to a CD).   My Instagram photos go onto ONE mini album that I have made by either Shutterfly or Artifact Uprising (which I will be trying out this year) If something were to happen to my PC hard drive, my portable hard drive or my CD’s I will be happy to have printed my favorites.  I am definitely NOT one to do back up after back up (unless it’s a friends wedding or special photo sessions) that’s why I choose to print.  There is nothing like having my photos in my hand 🙂

Once printed, I categorize photos by year.  Like this;

Now, the first time I started organizing, it did take me a few days (especially because I just sat down to look back at them!) but once I was done I felt VERY accomplished.  I mean really!  It’s our life in photos!!  Starting from the 70’s (well, at least mine were!) and all the way down to the present.  This system has worked for me just fine.  I find that if I don’t DO something with the photos I take, it will be chaos in my phone.  Besides, having all those photos trapped in my phone or in my computer makes it much more difficult to share them with others.  

Hope this helps you in some way or at least encourages you to create your own system to get your precious photos organized and possibly even get a few printed!  🙂
Once 2013 comes to a close this little box will be filled with happy memories 🙂
And in case you are wondering.  I LOVE love LOVE these photo boxes from Creative Memories.  I tried looking for them again, but sadly they might no longer be available 🙁

Reader Interactions